Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Redux: Alternatives to buying new software

Spring is over and it seemed time to update this post from a while back with new
developments. At the time, I was in the process of migrating to a new computer
a while back. The "new" computer being a slightly old Compaq, Windows
XP machine that I was given as a gift.I
was able to upgrade to Windows 7 from XP. It pays to check OS specs to
see if this is possible. This is one way to avoid having to buy a totally new computer.

The software I was reinstalling, I found out had reached its limit. These days
with online registration there are limits to the number of installs you can do
from the original disk. You are also limited usually to one machine as well, so
if your computer ID is different you are usually out of luck.

So, if you can no longer reinstall; if you have hit your limit, what are your
options? You can buy the latest version of your software but that could be a
very pricy proposition. If cost is a concern try these options.

Open Source
Is there an open source alternative to the software you need? You would be
surprised as to how fully featured some of the open source software is. In most
cases the software is free with the option to donate what you wish. A good
place to find open source graphic / audio and utility software would be:

Use Linux
Being on the subject of open source, what about changing your OS itself.No need to wipe your existing machine. A cool
thing about using a Linux is that you can set up your computer to dual boot
from either OS when installed or run it directly from a jump drive. Linux also
doesn’t tax resources so it works great on older machines. The Linux
distribution you select should also come preinstalled with most of the graphics
/ audio and utility software you will probably need. Check out the latest
version of Ubuntu Studio.

Educational Versions
Educational versions of software varies from free to a substantial cost
reduction from retail price. The only restriction might be use for learning
only and not for use on commercial projects. Also, to get the special pricing
you may need to prove you are either a student or an instructor by sending a
copy of your school ID or having a educational email address. If the word gets
out that you used software for commercial gain, be ready to pony up full
pricing.

Used Software
Sometimes you can find used version that hasn’t been used or haven't had all
the installs registrations used up. In some cases the original owner may need
to notify the software company of a transfer of license to a new owner. Ebay
could be a good resource for this.

The Upgrade
If you have registered your software and entered an email address, most
companies will contact you whenever the new version is released and offer you
an upgrade to the new version at a reduced
cost. Usually much cheaper than buying the new version outright.

The Non - Latest Version
What worked in my situation was purchasing the non - latest version. Very often
you can find a slightly older version of the software at a significantly reduced price. Often you will find that
there might not be too much of a difference between say version 4 and 5 but the
savings can be significant. Try Amazon or Ebay for this. We are talking new
software that has not been opened or used it just hasn't been sold in a timely
fashion. It doesn't make sense for a retailer to hang on to software that is
outdated, hence savings as good as 50 to 80 percent off. For the price of
the current version of software, I purchased a non-latest software bundle (one
version behind) at a huge discount, with all the functionality and two
additional pieces of software for less than just the single version. You can
verify price with Pricegrabber or Google to make sure you have the lowest pricing
if necessary. One last cool thing is that because the software was slightly
older, my machine specs worked perfectly since it didn't require the
latest and greatest.

How about AppsMost apps especially graphic and audio these day have a lot of the
functionality of their full blown counterparts. If you are on a Mac, Windows
10, iPad, iPhone or Andriod check the specs. The Bluestacks app player also
allow you to run apps including Andriod on your Windows / Mac machines. Check
it out:

1 comment:

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